This is your brain. This is your brain on omega 3s. Eat your fish — but think first

Yesterday my colleague Julie Davidow had the unenviable task of trying to sort out — on deadline — the complex matter of fish’s contribution to a healthy diet, and how consumers should balance that against contaminants found in fish.

The story on the wire on a slow-news summer day spoke of the latest study on omega 3 fatty acids, saying they appear now to help prevent the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, macular degeneration. Julie went on to point out that in general, many health officials are worried that warnings about contaminants in fish might scare consumers off from a low-fat protein source. The basic message: Eat fish.

But there is another side to this story. As we’ve reported when we took on the matter of contaminants in salmon here, the calculus for any individual consumer needs to be, well, individual.

My personal answer is what a lot of scientists who study this say: cut off the skin and the fat, and enjoy the omega 3s that are left in the salmon. And cook the fish so much of the remaining pure fat drips off.

There is another way, of course: get your omega 3s from plant sources such as flax oil, walnuts, or vitamin supplements. Or, just stick with shorter-lived fish such as sardines, anchovies and mackerel that tend to accumulate fewer contaminants.

Not everyone buys into the everyone-should-just-eat-lots-of-fish-and-forget-it message. Julie’s piece touched on this at the end:

Children and pregnant and nursing women may be at higher risk of exposure to excessive mercury from fish, according to the American Heart Association. For middle-aged and older men, and women after menopause, the benefits of eating fish far outweigh the risks within the established guidelines of the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, the association says.

The P-I’s graphic this morning focused on mercury as a contaminant, although PCBs are also important. With farmed salmon the third most popular seafood for Americans, behind tuna and shrimp, it’s worth paying attention to high PCB levels in farmed salmon, which we’ve covered here and here.

Even just considering mercury, though, it pays to pay attention to what you’re eating. Moving on the wire today is a new story showing how imported tuna, particularly South American tuna, tends to be much higher in mercury than tuna caught in U.S. waters.